Car-cager.



J. LAWLESS.

CAB. CAGER'.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 1, 1912.

Patented NOV. 12, 1912.

f UNITED sTa-Tns PATENT OFFICE.-

:torna LAwLnss, or SPRINGFIELD, -ILLINOIS. AssIGNoR-or ONEL'I'IALF 'ro JOHN'.

MeGARIrrY,-or SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS.

CAR-CAGER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. i2, 191e.

ingloaded mine cars on the cageof a mine;` or removing the empty cars from the cage without the-necessity for the attendant to go on o'rl under the cage.l

The purposes of the invention are': to rovide means to keep the car on the cage uring the ascent orldescent of the cage; to rovide an automatic releasing device actu-v ated by the desce'ndingvcage and adapted to automatically release the empty car when the cage is onthe level of the loading 'and discharging tracks; to provide means for keeping a plurality of cars on the loading track in position for caging, and' means for 'releasing the first loaded car, so that .it may run onto thecage, 'but holding the next succeeding car so that not more V'than one car i at a time can run onto .the cage; to provide a starter energized by the descending. cage and adapted to automaticallypush an start the loaded car to run onto.v the cage; to pro.-

esl

vide means -whereby a car placed on the cage may be released in case-it be desired to remove the car from the cage and run it back on the loading track; to provide means for placing the caging mechanism out 4of commission to admit of operating 4the cage without opera-tino the caging mechanism.;

ther novel .features -of-con 'The' invention is illustrated in the annexed drawingsto which reference is hereby' made'and is hereinafter. described' and the novel features recited inthe claims.

Figure 1 is a top plan of the mechanism;

and Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the mechanism.

Similar reference? characters designate likeparts in both views.

The cage 1 's of theusual-` construction and is connected' with the hoistin. cable', so:v that the cage will travel upwar ly and" downwardlyin the fsliaft',- guidedby the guides' 2L." On the floor. of the ca esfa track 'which'.support the car on t e cage.

LAwLEs's, a citi-.

Application led March 1, 1912. Serial No.. 680,908.

. `When the cage is at the bottom of the pit the' track occupies a position in the plane of. tl1ejloading trackjet'and the discharge rack 5.- Pit cars -6 of -us'ual construction are adapted to travel on the tracks.

Extendin downwardly from the center -of each car is a ,fixed stop 6a'. rlhe purpose of which ishereinafter explained. A, shaft 74 transverse to the loading vtrack is mounted to oscillate onsuitable supports 7 A beam 8 issecured-on the shaft 7 and a weight 9 is mounted near one end of the beam. One end of the beam 8 is adjacent to onewall of-the shaft in which the cage'. travels.V A projecting finger- 10 secured on' the cage engages one end 'of the beam 8 and as the cage' descends the finger depresses the englgaged end 'of the beam and causes theshaft '7 to oscillate and raisethe weightedl end of the beam. A transverse bar- 12 secured on the beam 8 supports upwardly extending slotted. standards 13. Shafts 14 fit loosely .intlie slots ofuthevstandard's 18.and are supported on the standards. Weights 15 are secured on the shafts 1 4 respectively. 4Circular blocks 16 are mounted Vto slide on the shafts l4vres'pectively. Cylinders 17; are

Secured on the .blocks 16 and when the loaded car is .in position for starting the outer ends of the 'cylinders 17. abut against the stop. 6 on the under side of the car. Helical springs 18 surround the shafts 14 respectively'. Oneerid of each spring is connected' with the block 16 and the otherend abutsaga-inst the standards 13'.- During the depressing of vthe free end of lthe beam 8 bythe finger 10 on the cage, the depressing o f the beam will cause the upper part of the standards V13 to act on the ends of the springs 18 to compressthe springs.

Previously to the depressing'ofthe beam- 8 the upper ends of-thecylinders 17 will be in contact with the 'stop 6? onl the underside of the loaded car at rest on the'loading track; hence .the moving of the standardsA 13 will causecompression of the springs'lS and Upon occasion it may be desired for the loaded car to pass over the cylinders 17 without the cylinders engaging on the stopV 6a. In that case the cylinders will be vdepressed by means new to be described.

A bent shaft- 19 is mounted to oscillate in suitable bearings 20. The shaft 19 has upwardly extending members 19a and a horizontal member 19". Forks 19c in the member 19b accommodate the shafts 14 respectively. It' the shaft 19 be oscillated to the right to move the member 19b upwardly the forks 19c will engage on the underside of the shafts 14 and raise the shaft-s to the horizont-all position indicated by dotted lines. When the shafts 1-1 and the cylinders 17 are in the horizontal position, the stop (ia will pass over them without striking t-he cylinders.

Horizontal bell-crank levers 21 and 22 are mounted to oscillate on suitable supports. A rod 23 connects the bell-crank levers 21 andi22. A lever 24- mounted on. a standard 25 is connected with the bell-crank lever 21 by a rod E26. i

A rod 27 mounted to slide in suitable supports 2S is connected with the bell-crank lever and one end of the rod is turned upwardly and has a pivot 2.7a connecting the rod with one member 19a of the lifter. 'The other end ot the rod 9.7 is bent upwardly and has a laterally extending finger 27b adapted to engage with an upwally extending arm Q9 on the transverse shaft 30. The shaft 3'() oscillates in suitable supports 31. Arms Q9 and 3Q and a lever 71 are secured on the shaft 30. The arm 29 is adapted to .be engaged -by the'linger 27b on the rod 27.

rl`hc arm 39 extends upwardly in position to be engaged by the stop Ga on the underside ot the loaded car ruiming onto the cage. The lever 71 tends to gravitate to restore the parts to their initial positions after the arm 32 has been depressed by the stop (ia-0f the car moving over' it. A wire 33 connects the lever 71 with the clapper of a suitably placed signal bell 34, so that when the arm,

32 is turned downwardly the bell will be caused to ring.

lVhcn the front wheels of a loaded car are traveling to the right on the cage the stop G on the underside of that car will strike' the upwardly extending end of the arm 32 to depress it to cause the lever 71 to pull on the wire 33 to cause the bell 34 to ring to apprise the engineman that the car is in place on the cage in readiness for hoisting.

.lf it he desired that a car moving to the lett pass over the cylinders 17 without being engaged thereby, the upper end of the .lever 2-1- will be moved to the left and will cause the rod 2G to push on the bell-crank lever ll and through the instrumentality of the rod Z3 cause the bell-crank lever 22 to act on the rod 27 and the rod 27 pulling on the 1. when the beam israised the chain 49 will 130 4fixed on the `shaft 40.

In order that the springs 18 may be com- 70 pressedtit is necessary to hold the car to prevent 1t from moving forwardly while the 'springs are being compressed.

The holder will no w be described. A bar 75 35 equipped with a weight 35a is mounted to' oscillate on standards 36. A beam 37 in line with the bar 35 is mounted to oscillate on \standards 38 and has a hinged member 37"jextending under the bar 35 and having 80 an opening adapted to permit free movement of the weight 35. A finger 39 connected with the cage engages one end of the beam 37 just before the track on the cage arrives in the plane of the loading track and 85 depresses that end of the beam which is engaged by the finger and causes the other endof the beam to raise the weighted end of the bar 35 to the horizontal position shown in Fig. 2 and .when the bar 35 is in that 90 position, t-he other end of the bar will be disengaged from the stop 6 and the car will be free to run over the bar and downward on t-he loading track and onto the cage. A shaft 40 oscillates in supports 41. inclined latch -12 having a shoulder 42a is A pin 43 extends laterally from the. bar 35 and normally acts `when the weighted end of the bar is depressed, vto keep the latch in the position 109 shown bydotted lines in Fig. 2.

A weight 44 secured on the shaft 110 tends to gravitate to turn the shaft to move the upper end of the latch to the left. lVhen the member 37 is raised it will raise the 105 weighted end of the bar so that when the bar is in a horizontal position the weight 44; will gravitate and cause the shoulder 4i to occupy a pt-.sition under the pin 43 and thereby support the' bar in its horizontal 110 late in stationary standards lo and has a 120 handle 45a. A horizontal arm 47 is secured on the shaft l5 and when the shaft is turned upwardly to the left the arm 47 engaging' on the underside of the beam 37 will raise the beam and support it in the position indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2. A benl rod t8 is secured on and extends downwardly from the beam 37. A chain 49 conects the rod L1S with the latch 42 so that and f there- 1 15 pull on the latch 12 and hold it in such position that it can not engage with the pin 43. When the beam 37 is raised the outer end of the beam will be out ofthe path of the linger 39 on the cage so that the cage may move upwardly or downwardly with out the finger engaging' on the beam. Then the beam is raised as described the weighted end of the bar 35 will be depressed and theV other end of the bar will be in position to stop and hold the trst car rm'mirm,r on the loading track.

The keeper on the cage Awill now be described. Levers 50, 51, 52, and 53 are mounted to oscillate in fixed vertical standards 5st, 55, 56, and 57 respectively. The lever 51 has slot 51a accornmodatingv a pin 52a on the Alatchv60- suitably supported on the wall of the shaft. Whenthe cage descends one end l of the lever 53 engages on the latch 60 and'is thereby raised, andthe other end of the lever 53- acts to depi'ess the contacting mem` ber of the lever 52 and the lever 52 injturn acts to raise the lower member-of the lever 51 so that the upper end of thelever-l will be below the stop 6- and the car willA be free to run olf the cage and onto the empty track.

The latch 60 oscillateson a suitable snpport 61 stationary on the frame work of the shaft. An arm 62 is connected with the latch 60. A chain 63 connected with the arm 62 extends around a sheave 64 suitably supported on the frame work of the shaft and supports a weight 65. An. ano'ular lever 66 is mounted on a shaft 67 which osciln lates in suitable supports on the frame Work of the shaft. EL chain 69 connected with the upwardly extending member of the lever 66 runs around a suit-ably supported sheave 6.8 and is connected with the rod 70. The rod 70 connects the chain 69 with the lever 45a so that when the upper end of the lever is' moved to the left the beam 37 will beraised as already described to clear the linger 39 and the lever 66 acting on the arm 62 will retract the' latch 60 asshown by dotted lines.

in Fig. 2 so that the cage will he free 'to travel upward or downward without operating the mechanisms .of the car-eager. The operation is ars follows: If the cage is started from the top with an empty car on the cage the lever 53 will at the proper Itime engageA on the latch 60 to cause the release of the car then on the cage and the empty car will run ott' the cage onto the empty track. The

to'depressthe beam '8 to cause compression of the spr1ngs'18`as already described and when the track on the cage arrives in the d plane of the loadingl track and the empty track, the finger 39 will actuate the beam 37 to cause the depressing of the left-hand-endof the hai-"35 thereby releasing the first car on the loading track and the springs 18 will immediat-ely act to 'start' thecar and cause it to run onto the cage. When the vcar runs onto the'cage the stop 6a on the underside of the car will pass over the lever 50 and stop against the upper end of the lever 51. The

.spring '58 will cause the lever 50 to return toits first position as soon as the stop 6a has passed over and the car will come to rest with the stop 6a between the upper ends ot' the levers 60 and 51, which will keep the car safely in place on the cage.

-lf it be desired to run a car from the cage .back on'o the loa-ding track the upper end o1c the lever-.71' will be moved to the right to depress the arm32 so that the stopl 6% on the car running from the cage will travel over the arm'32 without striking it and the upper end ofthe lever Lit' will be moved to the left to cause the bent arm 47 to raise 'thev right-hand member of thebeam 37 and cause the rod 48 t pull on the chain 49 and thereby cause .the depressing of the upper endof the linger 42 so that the stop 6a on the car running `from the cage Amay pass over' the linger `without striking it. .upper end of the lever 2st will then be moved tothe left to cause the rod 27 to pull on the The lift r Maand raisethe lifter to cause the cylinders 17 to assume a horizontal position below the plane of the lower surface of the stop 6a so that the car on the loading track `in front of the car running from the cage may be pushedl to the lett on the loading track and may pass over the cylinders 17 without stri-king them. `When the stop 6a o n the underside of the car running from the. gra-ge has passed the upper end of the finger 12, the upper end of the lever 45a will be movedto the right to cause the release of the' beam 37 and permit the finger 42 to assume its'normal position, and the upper end 'of the lever 24` will be moved to the right to cause lthe rod 27 to slide to the left and depress the lifter 19 sot-hat the weights 15 will gravitate downward and Cause the cylinders 17 to .assume their raised position and stop the car ruiming from the cage.

'After the stop 6a of the car running Ifrom the cage has passed over the arm 32, and the finger 42, the lever 7l will gravitate downward to restore the arm 32 and the linger descentof the cage will'cause the linger 10 p 42 to .their initial position `and'to cause the 'arm 29 to push on the member 27h of the rod 27 to cause the lifter 16' to return to its lil'st or depressed position, and thereupon the weights 15 will act toraisutihe'cylinders disengage the holder; a keeper ladaptedl to,

1T inte positionto stop the ear coming from the Cage.

Having I claim as new*r and desire to ters Patenty is: l

1. In a carfcager, the combination of a holder adapted to hold 'a car atiest; a

fully described my invention what( secure by Letstarter. provided with springs; spring-compressing means adapted tobe operated by l i the kdescending cage to cause. the starter to forward end of the starter; and means for exert pressure against the car to start the Q car; ,and releasing-means adapted to be*` i i l operated by the descending cage to disen- 1 gage the holder. Y f

holder adapted to hold the ear at rest; a.

starter provided Wit-h springs; springbompressing means adapted to be operated by the descending cage lo cause' the starter to 2 exert. pressure against the carto. start the;

means for disengaging the keeper; 4and car; releasing-means adapted to be operated by the. descending cage to disengage the helder; and a keeper 'nftlie cage adapted to keep in place on the cage thecarstarted by said starter.

3.In a car-cager, the combination of `a holder adapted vto hold a car at rest; a starter provided with springs; spring-compressing m-eans adapted to be operated .by

the descending cage; releasingmeans adapt- 'ed to be operated by the descending cage to l' stop and keep in place-onthe cageithe car started by ating the keeper to release the car.

11. In; a car-cager, the combination of a car holder; a standard positioned to supporta car starter coperat-ing With the car-v holder; a car-starter mounted to oscillate on 40 v`said standard and provided with a Weight normally gravitatmg downward to raise the raising the weighted rear part of the starter to depress the forward end of the starter to 45 permit the ear to move rearwardly over it.

5. In a ycar-eager, the combination of a y holder adapted to hold a car to prevent 1in- 'timely running of the caro'nto the cage; holder-releasing means adaptedpto be actuje ated vby the descending cage to disengage the'f holder; a keeper effectiveto stop and keep a car running from the holder onto the cage;

" means connecting the holder-releasing means 5,5,

Jol-IN MCGARITY, p JOSEPH S. THouPsoN.

(Ia/pies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner-fof Patents,

' Washington, D. C.

said starter; and means for oper- 35 

